For those lucky gamers who managed to nab themselves a Halo 3 beta key over the last couple of months, the wait is almost over to test drive the new first-person shooter. The multiplayer beta will be going live on May 16 on Xbox Live globally, Microsoft announced today.

The announcement also scotched rumours that there would be two different beta start dates for those who had got their beta keys either through the Rule of Three promotion, or through purchasing a specially marked copy of Crackdown. Access to the beta will be rolled out simultaneously worldwide at 1.p.m. GMT (5.a.m. PDT) on May 16, and will end on June 7 at 7:59 a.m. GMT (June 6 at 11:59.pm PDT).

There will be three maps available to play, Snowbound, High Ground, and Valhalla, which will "represent a mixture of large- and medium-scale combat environments." New vehicles will include the nimble Mongoose all-terrain vehicle, and new weapons will be available, such as the "new and improved" Assault Rifle, the Brute Spiker, the Spartan Laser, and Spike Grenades.

Microsoft Game Studios corporate vice president Shane Kim commented, "Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 changed the face of console gaming forever. Gamers from around the world have logged more than 800 million hours on Xbox Live playing Halo 2, and years after its launch it remains the number one title on our Xbox Live network. Bringing an early look at the multiplayer elements of Halo 3 to our passionate fan base is tremendously exciting for us."

Those who have not yet got a beta key can still sign up by buying a copy of Xbox 360 game Crackdown, the release said.

There will also be a behind-the-scenes documentary video, set in Bungie Studios, available for download from Xbox Live from today. Entitled Is Quisnam Protero Damno!, it will feature insights into the creators, technology and production process of the new game.

Just to add to this now, there is a new Vid on Marketplace, and I think Bungies site showing some of the Multiplayer you are gonna get to do in the Beta. There is even Instant Replay now, which I think is probley a first for a FPS title. Vid is 348MB in size on Marketplace.

Just finished the Video, I want to play it even more. They Show the Bubble Shield, and there are now Trip Mines, and other stuff like Assult and Battle Rifles, and the Man Cannon.